Preview

How Are the Two Female Protagonists Offred from “the Handmaid's Tale” by Magaret Atwood and Celie from “the Color Purple” by Alice Walker Oppressed by Men, in What Ways Are Their Situations Similar and How Do They Deal

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
4457 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Are the Two Female Protagonists Offred from “the Handmaid's Tale” by Magaret Atwood and Celie from “the Color Purple” by Alice Walker Oppressed by Men, in What Ways Are Their Situations Similar and How Do They Deal
“How are the two female protagonists Offred from “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Magaret Atwood and Celie from “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker oppressed by men, in what ways are their situations similar and how do they deal with the pressure and abuse?”

Abstract
The purpose of this essay is to look at how the two protagonist women, Offred from “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Celie from “The Color Purple” are treated in literature. This essay aims to answer the question: “How are the two protagonist women Offred from “The handmaid’s tale” and Celie from “The Color Purple” oppressed by the circumstances, the society they live in and the men in their lives and in what ways are their situations are similar?”, focusing on the similarities between their situations and how they deal with the pressure and abuse. Both authors are particularly strong women in literature who write about the oppression of two women within society. The two protagonist women, Offred and Celie, were selected because they live within similar circumstances in which they are subjugated and abused by men. The situations of the two women will be examined, compared and contrasted. The conclusion I arrived at, is that both female protagonist women suffer from oppression and abuse by the men in their lives. The two women suffer from the subjugation and live within similar circumstances in which they are exploited by their functions, surroundings and their situation. Even though both women face many difficulties and struggle to emerge as women, they grow stronger and gain strength in their lives throughout time. Research was carried out on the internet, through literary study guides and other people’s literary criticisms. The other people’s literary criticisms were not particularly useful, since they did not concentrate on the protagonists situation and oppression, but focused merely on how the literary works could be examined and interpreted and what the author’s intentions were. However, what I found out how



Bibliography: Boesenberg, Eva. Gender – Voice – Vernacular: The formation of female sunjectivity in Zora Naele Hurston, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. Heidelberg; Winter, 1999. Magali Cornier, Michael. Feminism and the Post Modern Impulse. New York; State University of New York, 1996. Paul Lee, Thomas. Reading, learning teaching Margaret Atwood. New York; Peter Lang, 2007. Tolan, Fiona. Margaret Atwood: Feminism and fiction. Amsterdam; Rodopi, 2007.Johnson, Yvonne. The voices of African American Women. New York; Lang cop, 1998 World Wide Web:

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Feminism has always been an incredibly relevant issue in all societies and is still no exception in today’s day and age. One of the most highly acclaimed writers of today that tackles the plaguing issue of feminism and the unfortunate belittling of women is Margaret Atwood. Among her many successful novels, poems, and other works, her masterpiece of a novel The Handmaid’s Tale emphasizes the dangers of downplaying women and their roles in society. Set in a future dystopian society, Atwood’s novel is best understood and interpreted from a critical feminist viewpoint; if the reader adapts this perspective, the novel comes to life and its message to protect women’s rights is unmistakable.…

    • 2436 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    ‘What Feminist Critics Do’ raises “thoe question of weather men and women are essentially different because of biology, or are socially constructed as different,” which is, arguably the premise for Margaret Atwood’s novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and Atwood applies this method of thought through her novel, and particularly to the ending.…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood depicts a dystopian society where the United States has been taken over by a monotheocracy and transformed into the country of Gilead. The majority of the woman in this society have been split into three basic categories: Wives, Marthas, and Handmaids. There are also Econowives, Aunts, and Unwomen. The main character, Offred, is a Handmaid. The Handmaids’ sole purpose in this society is to provide babies for powerful households where the wives are deemed infertile. Throughout the novel a struggle can be sensed between most of the women. In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood demonstrates the way that oppressors will use tension between minoritized groups to distract from their oppression.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Black women`s struggles for voice, acceptance, equality and fulfilment has become an interesting field for discussion for numerous African American writers. The main objective for them was to present their day-to-day life in the context of the legacy left behind and history which should never be forgotten. In the following chapters of this thesis, the analysis of three chosen books will be presented. There is no coincidence in this choice because of the fact that the authors share their legacy and heritage. Apart from that, Alice Walker admits openly that she has chosen Zora Hurston as her precursor in whose footsteps she wants to follow (Sadoff, 1985). When she was asked which book she would take on a desert island with herself, she without…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These women authors have impacted a male dominated society into reflecting on of the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution. Each author ignored convention and proceeded to write about women 's issues. They took the gamble and suffered the consequences, but each one stood by what is just and reasonable. They were able to portray women as human beings, rather than as totally self-sacrificing and sanctified women, as was expected of women in that era.…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The color purple demonstrates the feminist struggle one woman over comes. Limitations placed for not only being a woman but being an African American woman enhance the severity of Celie’s battles against society. Celine faces multiple demeaning challenges that cause her to become very passive around others. She was raped at least twice by her own father, and had two children which were stripped from her arms and sold at a very youthful age. Celine later is raped again by her husband who her father forced her to go away with. But Celie's bond with her sister is the one inseparable relationship that motivates her to persevere. Rape and abuse by men is ignored during the time period of the 1920’s. It is embedded into the minds of women that it is an acceptable action. A woman who denies a man of his needs is punished, which explains why Celie does not remove herself from the situations. Celie also encounters a few women, Sofia and Shug Avery, who challenge the mainstream role of women in society.The setting and time period during which the story takes place explain why individuals had the mindset they did.The reactions to women experiencing domestic abuse in 1922 would be outrageous to a person living…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    American Literature has always been about men and for men. In this essay, we are going to analyze the women’s role in the book, as inferior and weaker gender.…

    • 1255 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    • Congratulates women’s movement for expanding the roles of women in literature and simultaneously society- but she also criticises them for limiting the reality of this portrayal…

    • 1626 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Rosenthal, Caroline. Narrative Deconstructions of Gender in Works by Audrey Tomas, Daphne Marlatt, and Louise Erdrich. Rochester NY: Camden House, 2003. Print.…

    • 2474 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The text holds valid forms of characteristics of feminist literature such as an attempt in change of gender norms, a protagonist female lead character, and a…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author offers that Handmaids Tale, “Atwood’s novels became part of a new wave of fiction writing by feminist who wrote both to entertain and to dramatize the plight of women.” He goes on about all the contributing factors that inspired the new fiction writing. He covers the plot and gives quotes from the book specifically from the women and their perceptions. He goes on to explain the different categories of women and their roles. The confinement and objectification of women are evident in the analysis. Government and religion are discussed in great detail and their part in Gilead societies. The religion influences the government entirely and women pay the price. Rape is discussed is perceived as being provoked that women ask for it. The…

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Handmaids Tale

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The value of the Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, lies not only within the author’s purpose but within its construction and the author’s ability to draw readers attention to these concepts through language. Atwood has carefully and decisively used language and structure throughout the novel to enhance our understanding of the purpose and message she is trying to portray. Atwood aims to caution us about the elements in our world that can give rise to a dystopic society and the dangers of oppression, particularly of women. Atwood challenges her audience to reflect on and consider their own societies and the ways in which people are controlled and oppressed. Her central ideas of feminism, dystopic societies and repression are reinforced through her use of historical and biblical references, non-linear structure and the intimate first person narration given by Offred. These features of language and construction aid us as readers to comprehend her purpose of the novel.…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Margaret Attwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is widely regarded as a dystopian novel; presenting society in a distinctly negative light through its themes of oppression and human misery. Its heavily biased depiction of the Republic of Gilead is conveyed through the narrator Offred, who as a woman, has lost most of her rights, been torn away from her family and forced into an undesirable profession. But through such events, Attwood is able to highlight the most irrepressible of human emotions: hope. In the novel, hope is conveyed through the Mayday resistance, reflecting the fact that as a species, humans are resistant to change and will fight for what they believe in. Specifically for Offred, with written language banned, her discovery of a phrase etched into her wardrobe provides a piece of the past for her to hold on to, giving her strength to carry on. But despite these undertones of hope, the character Moira, who is initially presented as a catalyst for hope, is eventually forced into submission. This reflects that even though the message of the novel is the importance of hope in individual survival, ultimately hope does not prevail.…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Offred, in Margaret Atwood’s disturbing novel The Handmaid’s Tale says, “But who can remember pain once it’s over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh. Pain marks you, but too deep to see. Out of sight, out of mind.” The society of Gilead causes the aforementioned pain and demoralization by using women’s bodies as political instruments. Similar to Atwood’s novel, today’s men put immense pressure on women to be a certain way, give them children, and take care of the home and the like. In Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, she examines the theme of demoralization of women through graphic predictions of what women’s futures may look like.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Frydman, Jason. "Zora Neale Hurston, Biographical Criticism, And African Diasporic Vernacular Culture." Melus 34.4 (2009): 99-118. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2012.…

    • 2558 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays